Auburn's performance against Clemson on Saturday night wasn't the biggest flop by a Top 25 team last week. The Tigers have Ohio State's no-show at home against Oklahoma to thank for that.

But once again at Auburn, a season that began with such hope seems to be rudderless after just two weeks. Jarrett Stidham went from preseason Heisman Trophy candidate to evoking comparisons to Brodie Croyle (and not in a good way) after being sacked 11 times in his second start at Auburn.

So how did things go wrong, so fast for Auburn offensively?

Here are the reasons we heard most often:

1. The offensive line couldn't block Clemson: This is true. Clemson is exceptional on the defensive line, probably better than anyone in the country. But are we to believe they're that much better than anyone else Auburn will play this year? Said another way, if Auburn could total just six points and 117 yards against Clemson, would double or even triple that against LSU or Alabama lead to a win? Probably not.

2. Jarrett Stidham held onto the ball too long: Again, there's some truth to this. Stidham could have and should have simply thrown the ball away a number of times when he was under duress. But it's also pretty clear Auburn's wide receivers weren't getting much separation. Which leads us to ...

3. Auburn's receivers couldn't get open: We've heard a lot about the talent and depth Auburn has at the receiver position, but this year's group appears to be more of the same. Remember, Auburn has two 1,000-yard receivers in its history (Terry Beasley in 1970 and Ronney Daniels in 1999). They haven't had a wideout you might consider elite since Sammie Coates.

4. Kamryn Pettway wasn't 100 percent healthy: I took some heat here last week for suggesting that Pettway was injured heading into the Clemson game. Turns out I was right, though it was really a typo and only blind luck that I was correct. At any rate, is Pettway the latest "great at times, but can't stay healthy" offensive star for Auburn?

5. The playcalling was often bizarre: Malzahn continues to insist that this is Chip Lindsey's offense, and it may be, at least in name. But there were too many Malzahn-esque touches for us not to raise our eyebrows a little bit. The toss sweep to the fullback on third-and-1? The double-reverse pass when you're running the ball at will? Pure Gus.

So what to do about all this? Do you simply write it off as a bad night against an elite opponent by an offense that is sure to get better?

I guess we could do that, but we've seen this movie before. Auburn played close against Clemson last year, had a midseason hot streak, then flopped at the end against Georgia and Alabama.

If we see that again this year, will Gus Malzahn be history by January? I'll take your questions and comments on that or anything else on your mind beginning at 10 a.m.